Japhet, In Search Of A Father Part 1 by Frederick Marryat (read people like a book .TXT) 📕

Being A Quack Doctor,  I See No Great Harm In That. People Put Their

Faith In Nostrums More Than They Do In Regular Medicines; And It Is Well

Known That Quack Medicines,  As They Call Them,  Cure As Often As Others,

Merely For That Very Reason."

"Very True,  Timothy; The Mind Once At Ease,  The Body Soon Recovers,  And

Faith,  Even In Quack Medicines,  Will Often Make People Whole; But Do You

Think That He Does No More Than Impose Upon People In That Way?"

"He May,  Or He May Not; At All Events,  We Need Do No More,  I Suppose."

"I Am Not Sure Of That; However,  We Shall See. He Says We May Be Useful

To Him,  And I Suppose We Shall Be,  Or He Would Not Have Engaged Us--We

Shall Soon Find Out."

     In Which The Reader Is Introduced To Several New Acquaintances,  And

     All Connected With Them,  Except Birth And Parentage,  Which Appears

     To Be The One Thing Wanting Throughout The Whole Of This Work.

By This Time We Had Arrived At The Lime-Kiln To Which We Had Been

Directed,  And We Sat Down On Our Bundles,  Chatting For About Five

Minutes,  When Our New Acquaintance Made His Appearance,  With Something

In His Hand,  Tied Up In a Handkerchief.

"You May As Well Put Your Coats Into Your Bundles,  And Put On These

Frocks," Said He,  "You Will Appear Better Among Us,  And Be Better

Received,  For There Is A _Gathering_ Now,  And Some Of Them Are Queer

Customers. However,  You Have Nothing To Fear; When Once You Are With My

Wife And Me,  You Are Quite Safe; Her Little Finger Would Protect You

From Five Hundred."

"Your Wife! Who,  Then,  Is She?" Inquired I,  As I Put My Head Through The

Smock Frock.

"She Is A Great Personage Among The Gipsies. She Is,  By Descent,  One Of

The Heads Of The Tribe,  And None Dare To Disobey Her."

"And You--Are You A Gipsy?"

"No,  And Yes. By Birth I Am Not,  But By Choice,  And Marriage,  I Am

Admitted; But I Was Not Born Under A Hedge,  I Can Assure You,  Although I

Very Often Pass A Night There Now--That Is,  When I Am Domestic; But Do

Not Think That You Are To Remain Long Here; We Shall Leave In a Few

Days,  And May Not Meet The Tribe Again For Months,  Although You May See

My Own Family Occasionally. I Did Not Ask You To Join Me To Pass A

Gipsy'S Life--No,  No,  We Must Be Stirring And Active. Come,  We Are Now

Close To Them. Do Not Speak As You Pass The Huts,  Until You Have Entered

Mine. Then You May Do As You Please."

We Turned Short Round,  Passed Through A Gap In The Hedge,  And Found

Ourselves On A Small Retired Piece Of Common,  Which Was Studded With

About Twenty Or Thirty Low Gipsy Huts. The Fires Were Alight And

Provisions Apparently Cooking. We Passed By Nine Or Ten,  And Obeyed Our

Guide'S Injunctions,  To Keep Silence. At Last We Stopped,  And Perceived

Ourselves To Be Standing By The Fool,  Who Was Dressed Like Us,  In a

Smock Frock,  And Mr Jumbo,  Who Was Very Busy Making The Pot Boil,

Blowing At The Sticks Underneath Till He Was Black In The Face. Several

Of The Men Passed Near Us,  And Examined Us With No Very Pleasant

Expression Of Countenance; And We Were Not Sorry To See Our Conductor,

Who Had Gone Into The Hut,  Return,  Followed By A Woman,  To Whom He Was

Speaking In The Language Of The Tribe. "Nattee Bids You Welcome," Said

He,  As She Approached.

Never In My Life Will The Remembrance Of The First Appearance Of Nattee,

And The Effect It Had Upon Me,  Be Erased From My Memory. She Was Tall,

Too Tall,  Had It Not Been For The Perfect Symmetry Of Her Form. Her

Face Of A Clear Olive,  And Oval In Shape; Her Eyes Jetty Black; Nose

Straight,  And Beautifully Formed; Mouth Small,  Thin Lips,  With A Slight

Curl Of Disdain,  And Pearly Teeth. I Never Beheld A Woman Of So

Commanding A Presence. Her Feet Were Bare,  But Very Small,  As Well As

Her Hands. On Her Fingers She Wore Many Rings,  Of A Curious Old Setting,

And A Piece Of Gold Hung On Her Forehead,  Where The Hair Was Parted. She

Looked At Us,  Touched Her High Forehead With The Ends Of Her Fingers,

And Waving Her Hand Gracefully,  Said,  In a Soft Voice,  "You Are

Welcome," And Then Turned To Her Husband,  Speaking To Him In Her Own

Language,  Until By Degrees They Separated From Us In earnest

Conversation.

She Returned To Us After A Short Time,  Without Her Husband,  And Said,  In

A Voice,  The Notes Of Which Were Indeed Soft,  But The Delivery Of The

Words Was Most Determined; "I Have Said That You Are Welcome; Sit Down,

Therefore,  And Share With Us--Fear Nothing,  You Have No Cause To Fear.

Be Faithful,  Then,  While You Serve Him,  And When You Would Quit Us,  Say

So,  And Receive Your Leave To Depart; But If You Attempt To Desert Us

Without Permission,  Then We Shall Suspect That You Are Our Enemies,  And

Treat You Accordingly. There Is Your Lodging While Here," Continued She,

Pointing To Another Hut. "There Is But One Child With You,  This Boy

(Pointing To Jumbo),  Who Can Lay At Your Feet. And Now Join Us As

Friends. Fleta,  Where Are You?"

A Soft Voice Answered From The Tent Of Nattee,  And Soon Afterwards Came

Out A Little Girl,  Of About Eleven Years Old. The Appearance Of This

Child Was A New Source Of Interest. She Was A Little Fairy Figure,  With

A Skin As White As The Driven Snow--Light Auburn Hair,  And Large Blue

Eyes; Her Dress Was Scanty,  And Showed A Large Portion Of Her Taper

Legs. She Hastened To Nattee,  And Folding Her Arms Across Her Breast,

Stood Still,  Saying Meekly,  "I Am Here."

"Know These As Friends,  Fleta. Send That Lazy Num (This Was Philotas,

The Fool),  For More Wood,  And See That Jumbo Tends The Fire."

Nattee Smiled,  And Left Us. I Observed She Went To Where Forty Or Fifty

Of The Tribe Were Assembled,  In earnest Discourse. She Took Her Seat

With Them,  And Marked Deference Was Paid To Her. In The Meantime Jumbo

Had Blown Up A Brisk Fire; We Were Employed By Fleta In Shredding

Vegetables,  Which She Threw Into The Boiling Kettle. Num Appeared With

More Fuel,  And At Last There Was Nothing More To Do. Fleta Sat Down By

Us,  And Parting Her Long Hair,  Which Had Fallen Over Her Eyes,  Looked Us

Both In The Face.

"Who Gave You That Name,  Fleta?" Inquired I.

"They Gave It Me," Replied She.

"And Who Are They?"

"Nattee,  And Melchior,  Her Husband."

"But You Are Not Their Daughter?"

"No,  I Am Not--That Is,  I Believe Not."

The Little Girl Stopped Short,  As If Assured That She Had Said Too Much,

Cast Her Eyes Down On The Ground,  And Folded Her Arms,  So That Her Hands

Rested On Each Opposite Shoulder.

Timothy Whispered To Me,  "She Must Have Been Stolen,  Depend Upon It."

"Silence," Said I.

The Little Girl Overheard Him,  And Looking At Him,  Put Her Finger Across

Her Mouth,  Looking To Where Num And Jumbo Were Sitting. I Felt An

Interest For This Child Before I Had Been An Hour In Her Company; She

Was So Graceful,  So Feminine,  So Mournful In The Expression Of Her

Countenance. That She Was Under Restraint Was Evident; But Still She Did

Not Appear To Be Actuated By Fear. Nattee Was Very Kind To Her,  And The

Child Did Not Seem To Be More Reserved Towards Her Than To Others; Her

Mournful Pensive Look,  Was Perhaps Inherent To Her Nature. It Was Not

Until Long After Our First Acquaintance That I Ever Saw A Smile Upon Her

Features. Shortly After This Little Conversation Nattee Returned,

Walking With All The Grace And Dignity Of A Queen. Her Husband,  Or

Melchior,  As I Shall In Future Call Him,  Soon Joined Us,  And We Sat

Down To Our Repast,  Which Was Excellent. It Was Composed Of Almost Every

Thing; Sometimes I Found Myself Busy With The Wing Of A Fowl,  At Another

The Leg Of A Rabbit--Then A Piece Of Mutton,  Or Other Flesh And Fowl,

Which I Could Hardly Distinguish. To These Were Added Every Sort Of

Vegetable,  Among Which Potatoes Predominated,  Forming A Sort Of Stew,

Which An Epicure Might Have Praised. I Had A Long Conversation With

Melchior In The Evening,  And,  Not To Weary The Reader,  I Shall Now

Proceed To State All That I Then And Subsequently Gathered From Him And

Others,  Relative To The Parties With Whom We Were Associating.

Melchior Would Not State Who And What He Was Previous To His Having

Joined The Fraternity Of Gipsies; That He Was Not Of Humble Birth,  And

That He Had,  When Young,  Quitted His Friends Out Of Love For Nattee,  Or

From Some Other Causes Not To Be Revealed,  He Led Me To Surmise. He Had

Been Many Years In company With The Tribe,  And Although,  As One Received

Into It,  He Did Not Stand So High In Rank And Estimation As His Wife,

Still,  From His Marriage With Nattee,  And His Own Peculiar

Qualifications And Dexterity,  He Was Almost As Absolute As She Was.

Melchior And Nattee Were Supposed To Be The Most Wealthy Of All The